Place: Reviews & Ratings

Reviews by GarthDanielson:

Swung by for lunch after a tour at Baxter, which is walking distance away. This place has outdoor seating on the deck, as well as a ton of table seating and bar space inside. Typical welcoming feel of a brewpub. Good little cove of arcade games, too, if that's your kinda thing. The food here was good...I recommend the fried pickles. Again, normal pub fare, but there were some hidden gems on the menu. Beer offerings are decent, and there are some rotating seasonals and one-offs, as well as some cask brews. The wait staff was friendly enough, but I was a bit disheartened by their lack of knowledge regarding their beer. I mean, if you are at a generic pub and they don't know the beers, that's one thing, but when you work at a brewpub and don't know squat about the beer your restaraunt brews, then I have some issue. Anyway, the long and the short of it is that this is a decent place to eat and get some tasty brews, and it has a very welcoming and comfortable vibe to it. Worth stopping by, as there isn't a whole lot in the craft beer world in the city of Auburn. (1,073 characters)

A nice local place to go, service was a little slow but the food is generic pub fare with sometimes a mexican bend. There is a porch in the back overlooking the river but it is often taken up by smokers. The large tables are nice - good for large parties or accommodating multiple small parties. (295 characters)

Located on the Androscoggin River in downtown Auburn, this was a nice place to while away a couple hours. As mentioned, the layout is similar to the Portland Gritty's. You enter into the bar area, which also had some high tops. Rooms on either side of the bar area for dining, with both picnic-like tables and regular tables. Even a small game room. There's a deck overlooking the river (and downtown Lewiston) out back. There are televisions, but they are relatively unobtrusive.On a Wednesday afternoon my wife and I were two of the dozen or so people in the place, and the only ones sitting at the bar. The usual Gritty's beer selection. Happily for us, they had the 21 IPA and the Scottish Ale in cask. Nice beers.The food is typical pub-style food. We had southwestern flatbreads with tomatoes, olives, and jalapenos. The bartender said that flatbreads were a recent addition to the menu, and have been very well received. We enjoyed ours.Other reviews have felt that service wasn't as good as it should have been. Maybe because it was a weekday afternoon, and there were few people in the place, but our servers were attentive and friendly.I don't get to the Lewiston-Auburn area frequently, but will go back here when I am. (1,234 characters)

Had dinner here on a Friday night. Located in the middle of the old downtown section it offers a great view of the big river that divides Auburn and Lewiston (a nice outside deck is available). I’ve been to the Portland location on numerous occasions and this one has some general parallels. It appears a bit newer and brighter but the set up is similar with a long bar at the entryway which leads to an adjoining area filled with long picnic-like tables for diners and general drinking. Food offerings cover the usual pub stuff with plenty of interesting twists and it was genuinely good from our experience that evening. Beer offerings seemed to be in line with the Portland selection with a few seasonal/limited specialties and the couple I had were solid. Service was a bit less than stellar as it seemed like the wait staff was thin for a busy Friday night. It appears to be a very popular destination for this generally depressed area. I might try to avoid prime dinner hours in the future but it seems like a very nice option otherwise. (1,045 characters)

I must admit that the deck overlooking the river is one of the choicest beer consumption venues I have ever enjoyed. When the weather is to your liking this is the place to be.

That being said the "place" is the best thing Gritty's has going in this location. The food is decent standard fare, the beer is Gritty's normal good quaility.

For some reason the people are the weak link here, the service was slow and not very motivated. The clientel was not your typical brewpub crowd, most of the people their were there for meals and beer was just the most available beverage.

At night it was better, but still not a regular brewpub vibe.

If your in the metropolis of Lewiston/Auburn it's an option, just about the only one. Don't go out of your way unless the weather is perfect and you like to sit outside. (810 characters)

Karl & Nance moved to downtown LA (Lewiston-Auburn) in, I don't know, I think it was '99, and occupied the Edward Little house on Main Street. We weren't in the door 10 minutes yet before Karl had us lugging a very large canoe out of the basement through the storm door, and naturally, Dave smashed his thumb between the canoe and the door jam and spent the rest of the weekend icing that bitch down with a bag of frozen peas. I remember us walking up to that crappy corner bar near the bridge for a few beers, playing six degrees of Kevin Bacon, and watching Dave's cartoon thumb actually throb crazy. Yeah, the new Gritty's is right across the street from there...

On the corner off the bridge on the river off the side of the road home. A sweet street slander spot and you enter in through the middle of three rooms to the bar; a copper topped "L" shape with a brick base & rounded brick footrest, seating for a dozen or so. Tap tower boxes on the bar at each end and 2 handpumps just inside down there some. Brick wall barback with arched cut throughs looking on the backside, and walk throughs at both ends of the bar ala Portland. Shelved booze, glassware below, and ceramic mug club mugs lined above the bar with rope lighting tucked up there. Small "Stand here, no beer" signs are posted at both ends of the bar help to keep you from being such a goddamn nuisance. Horizontal boards lists desserts & specials, and a tap board on the end lists the beer here. Some red walls and brown trim, wood plank floorings, exposed ducts, and strung cable spots over bar & seating. Some brewery signage about, a large horizontal colorful feast mural in the far room, framed pics brewery & not, old brewery signage, and all sorts of Gritty's stuff. Mounted flat screens to the rear of all rooms with some sort of pimping advertisement on them, curious.

A pair of long tables up front in the big windows, 3 adjacent to the bar between arched cut throughs to the side room below look throughs with potted plants, and 2 raised barrel tables to the rear. Side room holds 6 raised barrel tables and views of the far far brewroom, brick lined kettles et al. The other side room has more copper top bar space with seating for 8 or so, looking in on the bar from the backside, a bar counter piece running behind it, and 15 tables banquetty in rows front & back. Also, a small game room in the front far corner, Ms. Pac Man/Galaga combo table game, Big Buck Hunter, Silver Strike '07, Target Toss Pro Bag pitch, and 2 dartboards. And a cool back deck running some length with benches offering dirty smoker views of the Androscoggin below.

Still in the 40's, I opted for a bowl of the vegetable beef & barley soup, which I did dig. And the chicken sandwich of awesome, known on the street as the Barley Coated Chicken Sandwich, now living a quiet life in the 'burbs under an assumed Chicken Stacker name, arriving disguised on a toasted bread of some sort and not it's expected roll. You know, I was up stupid early this morning; I could've cut out hours ago. I just dicked around watching Caddyshack to kill some time 'til Grittys opened so I could have at that chicken sandwich, seriously. And I traded up the fries for vegetable, peas. Don't you know about peas and mes? Anyway, it was a great lunch for a 6 hour ride home except, me sleepy.

6 standards (Pub Style Pale Ale, Best Brown, Best Bitter, Blackfly Stout, Raspberry Wheat, Sebago Light), and seasonals (21 IPA, Scottish Ale), plus Woodchuck for your cider fix, and the 21 IPA on cask, as well. I had the 21 IPA, it was nicely hoppy & tasty, and the Black Fly Stout, for my second and out. Beers were fresh, no problems there.

Servers were friendly and the food arrived so promptly that I felt I should offer up "What took you?" Nice and quiet on this Sunday late morning in Maine; some light Motown their choice of music today. Probs the best vibe of the 3 locations, what with the views out back and the lack of the Beaners and /or Old Port tourists otherwise. (4,014 characters)

I love Grittys in Portland. Was there the first week it opened and it's still my all-time favorite pub. And I give Grittys in Freeport high marks, too -- although it's a very different kind of place than Gritty's Portland (its more touristy location means it caters to, well ... to tourists).

But Grittys in Auburn just seems off a bit. And my love of all things Grittys makes me want to also love Grittys in Auburn. But I don't. It's just ... kinda OK.

The clientele in Auburn is not warm and friendly like in Portland. You probably wont's strike up a witty, insightful or side-splitting conversation with a stranger at Grittys in Auburn, like you most often will in Portland and Freeport. (And I grew up in Auburn!)

And the staff at Grittys Auburn iisn't, a sunny summer day, either. More often than not, the bartenders and waitstaff are busy talking among themselves, on their cell phones, or have wandered away someplace else. I've waited at the bar WAY too long for a simple, "I'll be right with you," even on a quiet late Sunday afternoon / early evening. The bartenders don't often seem to notice your pint glass has been empty for 10 minutes (again on a quiet Sunday) and on a busy Friday evening it's even worse.

The waitstaff can take a verrry long time to arrive at your table, to take your order, to bring your order, and to deliver your check. And worse, they bring none of the trademark, friendly chit-chat with the customers I've long admired at the Grittys in Portland and Freeport.

In short, the staff in Auburn seem to be working as if the boss is away -- out of sight and out of trouble. Maybe that's the problem. I dunno. But while the place LOOKS like Grittys Portland, it AIN'T no Grittys Portland.

The food is fine. The decor is fine. The beers are fine -- well, except for the total absence of Grittys famous, superb, and mellow cask-conditioned ales (everything but the Blackfly Stout in Auburn is super-CO2'd).

Again, I love the Grittys brand and wish I could love the Grittys Brewpub in Auburn, but I don't. It's just ... so-so. (2,398 characters)

ah, i was so happy to see that a grittys was with in walking distance of my new apparment. Grittys is a great place, they have big long tables for large groups, a nice big copper bar and 3 huge plasma TV's to watch. Remember your ID...because they always check it.

This Brew pub has a great selection of Gritty's beer, as well as a few crud beers in bottles, they offer all the gritty beers on tap, as well as miller lite, woodchuck cider (for snake bites) and when i went, had a special ale just for the Balloon fest that goes on once a year up here.

The service is great, they notice when your low on your beer...not out, and great you with a warm welcome. They also have a mug club, which i hope to soon be a member of, food is good, and priced fair for a pub...over all...a place i love to take a stroll to and visit. (827 characters)

Newest location out of the three in Maine. First thing I noticed was the large amount of space (though it is a Tuesday night) as there are three seperate rooms with one plasma screen in each. Selection was good: Best Bitter, Brown Ale, Black Fly Stout, Pub Ale, Raspberry Wheat Ale, Sebago Light Ale, Vacationland Summer Ale, and Hardcore Cider out of Boston and Miller Lite :)

I wasn't big on the Bitter Ale but the Black Fly Stout (Irish Dry) went down pretty easily. I didn't bother to sample anything (but would've if they had the Scottish Ale which is apparently out of season) and didn't bother to see if they had cask-conditioned beer (I doubt they do but it may be worth asking as either one or both of the other locals do).

Prices: 3.50/pt., 5/ 25. oz.

edit: I've been here a couple times since then and the service leaves much to be desired. we walk in and literally 5 seconds after, the waitress goes 'IDs please." we don't even know what we are going to order yet, yeesh. i understand that there's probably a method to this where they don't have door checkers but at least be polite or say "hi, how are you guys tonight?" and then ask for them. I talked to some pals about it and they've had bad service there and one of them had such bad meal service, he alleges that he told 100 people. I'm downgrading the service here (again). (1,351 characters)